Ornament Exchange BIG REVEAL!

Did that title get you excited? Are you sick of seeing other's Christmas trees yet? Not me. 

Other than the eight new ornaments I received from the other participants in this exchange (which were SO delightful to get in the mail!), I'm most excited about the new colored lights we (OK, I) opted for this year. Ever since I've had my own tree, I've done white lights. But since our tree ends up covered in mostly kid-made ornaments, I was wanting more of a retro, family-friendly vibe, a la "Christmas Story":

Yes, it is a small tree. And yes, it was still hella expensive!

We don't usually do much decorating other than the tree. We live in an apartment, so we don't have a mantle. Any shelf space we've got is prime real estate for stuff we actually use....but this year I did switch out pictures for a Christmas-themed cluster that includes the embroidered titles from my family Christmas music video (Have you seen it already? Go check it out.)

And now, for the ornaments (follow the various links to go straight to the tutorials posted for each):

Kelli of True Bias started this little ornament exchange. She sent me this whimsical little red peacoat, which I loved so much, I tried out her tutorial — twice! (see below)

These are my two attempts at Kelli's pattern. I opted for more sewing over gluing (pom-pom buttons!)

Here's Megan Nielson's precious leather and suede acorn:

Mika of Savory Stitches must have a ton of patience. Just look at all the beading on her lovely peace dove ornament:

 Lucy just LOVES this narwhal ornament by Jen of Grainline Studio. In fact, she was pretty pissed at me about it. Pissed that it's mine, and NOT HERS:

As for Dixie DIY's tasty-looking peppermint ornament, I had to remind my kid twice not to lick it:

This Holly Jolly Pug by Sonja of Gingermakes almost didn't make it onto our tree. My kid was convinced she needed to send it to her aunt, who actually owns two pugs. I told her Anne can make her own pug ornament (that's what these tutorials are for, right?):

I'd never seen Miranda's One Little Minute blog before this exchange, but this lady is seriously talented (in case you need more evidence than this intricate paper reindeer ornament she designed, go see her blog. She's a woman of many talents. And prolific too.)

And last, but never least, Maddie's adorable yarn ball ornament, which looks like a neat, easy one to make in a pinch for a gift:

So there's my tree! I better get back to work on my final Christmas project: a picture book I wrote and am illustrating for my kid. It's proving to be a little ambitious, just because of time constraints. I'll post a preview pic soon!

Merry Christmas all,

Suzanne

Giveaway! My Hurricane Pain, Your Gain!

We're preparing for Hurricane Sandy to hit NYC sometime in the next 24 hours, and like all of us in the city, I'm having a few flashbacks to Hurricane Irene (except I haven't heard anyone advise putting big tape X's on your windows, like they did in August 2011. If they did, all the lazy people in the Bronx would be super stoked that they never bothered to take theirs down in the 13 months since the last hurricane to hit NYC).

We have water, enough food, and some new craft projects on hand to prevent boredom in our kid. All that's left to get today is a box of wine (this thing might last three days, after all!).

Anyway, now seems like a good time to hold a giveaway. I contemplated giving this dress away after I made it for Kollabora.com last spring. The fabric is a gorgeous olive silk crepe de chine from Mood. It was $17/yard, and was just a dream to work with. In fact, that's the reason I'm giving this away.

I have just enough of that lovely fabric to make a new minidress, which I will be working on during the hurricane this week. This dress here, sewn from Simplicity 1872 is a little on the modest side for me (when it comes to evening wear anyway). I never really thought I'd wear it, but was torn because I love the fabric so. However, now that I am making something else out of crepe de chine,  I finally feel ready to give this dress away:

I'm 5-foot-3 and think this dress would look great on someone my height or several inches taller. My waist is 30 inches, but there's a ton of ease in this, so even someone a few sizes up could easily wear this (Or if you're smaller, cinch it). I'm a very average B/sometimes C cup, and there's a lot of room through the bust, plus it's a wrap front, so you could always go with a camisole underneath if your chest is so big (bless your heart) that it actually fills out this generously cut top:

A gust of wind made it flare out like that!

In short, this dress is very forgiving. It's not at all fitted, so it could fit quite a range in sizes. Or you could go as Sexy Big Bird for Halloween in this. I won't be offended:

The color would make it great for a holiday party, or other special event.

To enter, just comment and tell me what would be in your hurricane preparedness kit. I'll accept entries up until the storm breaks, cutting it off and drawing a name at random when the sun finally shines again.

For a second entry, follow my blog (there's a little button thingie on the right of the page). Or if you're already a follower, just comment to tell me you are, and you get two entries too. I don't play favorites (except when it comes to boxes of wine).

Stay safe everyone, and happy hurricane sewing!

Guest Post! Amy's Advice on Creating Your Own Print

I am soooooooo excited today to present Beau Baby's first ever guest poster, my friend Amy! This summer we worked together on creating the perfect dress for her to wear to a wedding-like event in Scotland this Fall. Amy created her own print using Spoonflower.com, which I used to sew a custom-fit bombshell dress. The results were amazing, and some of you wanted to hear more about how she turned a photo into a super special print. (Keep in mind, neither of us is sponsored by Spoonflower, though we wouldn't turn down free fabric if it's being offered!). Amy's tutorial below kinda blew my mind; now I know how easy it is to turn a photo into a completely unique print — that in no way resembles the original photo. I didn't think I had the skills to do something like this. But now I think we all do. So read on!

Greetings Beau Baby blog followers!  I offered to do a guest a post to discuss the design process for my fabric. Full disclosure: I pretty much have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to using Photoshop or Illustrator (I had been known to be slightly drunk during my graphics design class in my undergrad program), so my process here was somewhat inartful and crude. But the good news is that Spoonflower seems to be aware of that and has really simple and user-friendly tools to help inexperienced, somewhat lazy people like myself. Originally I wanted to do a solid color, and Sue suggested a print and keeping the design simple. Since her print choice on her dress looked great, I thought this was an excellent direction to go in. Picking a print would have been tricky and prolonged given the Atlantic between me and Sue; I could look for prints in London but would need to send her samples for her to okay the print size and the fabric type, or she would have looked in NY and then had to send things over to me to approve in terms of my tastes. I started looking at a million prints online to send her things that I was really into, and ended up at Spoonflower. I stumbled into the bit where you make your own design and immediately all the Project Runway HP design challenges flashed into my mind like some sort of dreamy Mondo-led montage. I really like making things as personal as possible, so I started looking at the photos I took in Prague, where Lewis and I met 5 years ago.

Here are the two photos that seemed to have some interesting design potential.

The first one is the astronomical clock, which is pretty famous in Prague and really beautiful. The other one is some church. 

Once you have a Spoonflower account, you can upload various file types.

Once uploaded, you can crop the photo in their embedded photo editor, Picmonkey. You can also crop it beforehand in picasa or whatever. It's good to play around with this because the larger the image file is, the more flexibility have in terms of size of the print later. PNG files are best. Spoonflower will stop letting you make the print size bigger when they know that blowing it up any more will make it look gross.

You can also play around with the colors a bit. I wanted the gold to be brighter and more orangey but the big risk for fall colors is looking like a pumpkin. 

I started with this:

and got it more like this:

Here's the main editor in Spoonflower:

On the right, you have choices on how to pattern the print. "Mirror" usually works best if it's a cropped photo. Otherwise, you need to line things up properly when you design them.

The thing I really like here is that you can abstract the image a bit using the color palette. Notice how there are 4 colors at the bottom of the screen. And in the menu to the left it says "CHANGE COLORS." You can make it only 2 colors, or up to 24 or something. This is nice because it makes it look like color blocking or paint. So it's more like a print and less like a photo that you scanned on a tee shirt. You can also totally alter the color scheme from what it is originally in the photo to match your aesthetic and season. 

Here were some of the runner-ups to the one I ultimately ended up choosing.

 Some parents use Spoonflower to take their kids' drawings and make clothing out of the prints they create. I think that's such a lovely way to showcase your kids' art and make them feels special beyond the magnets on your fridge. Spoonflower is also doing wallpaper now. Pretty neat.

Ordering and shipping was very easy. It's always recommended that you order a swatch first to check colors, etc. This really worked for me and Sue given our distance - I ordered it from London on my computer and had it shipped directly to her house!

Hope this helped. I'm happy to answer any questions in the comments section.

Cardboard Skeeball!

I've been on a blog hiatus (reading them as well as posting; I miss you guys!) due to an extended vacation to my home on the West Coast of Canada followed by a summer of single-parenting due to the fact my husband comes home only to sleep these days, he's so busy with work and school.

Neither am I sewing, which pains me greatly. (I did manage to successfully alter my best friend's wedding dress on a borrowed machine back at home though!)

The one creative thing I have managed time for these past few weeks is this skeeball game I crafted from cardboard and hot glue for my kid's fourth birthday party. It's nearly life-size, and features faux lights made from water balloons. I studied photos of skeeball games to get the bump just right (without it, the ball won't bounce up into the hole). It worked perfectly. I wish we got some video of the kids playing with it before it was destroyed (inevitable considering it was made from cardboard and four-year-olds hopped up on birthday cake are as good as your worst drunken party guest. They took particular delight in pulling out all the balloons and stomping on them until they popped. I hope none of our neighbors have PTSD; it sounded like a shooting range in there for a while).

I believe there was some interference going on there. Note all the "lights" were smashed by the time the parents got to play

I know. How could I have "no time to blog" if I had the hours to make a cardboard skeeball game? It didn't take me that long, and I loved it. If only "making shit with cardboard" was a viable career option.

Sergio!

 

I learned to drive on a car with a standard transmission, which is unusual, I think. Most young people learn automatic transmission first, and then move on the more challenging stick-shift once they have the basics down. Am I right? Anyway, my boyfriend of many years taught me how to drive on an '85 Ford Escort that was only happy at certain speeds, none of which were the usual speed limit. After teaching me how to effectively cut corners on the Island Highway (I grew up on Vancouver Island, which is hilly — thus the roads are winding), he coached me on how not to freak out like a maniac every time I was at a red light on a hill, which happens often on the hilly island from which I hail. For the first six months I drove (I might still do this if I ever actually drove, which I don't because I live in New York City), I played a panicked game of Chinese Fire Drill every time I was forced to stop at a red light on a hill. Endlessly patient, he'd try and try to assure me that I wouldn't actually roll back far enough to hit the bumper of the car behind me. But after screaming "Why are they so close? They're too close!! Too close!!!" over and over, I'd get out of the car and go around to the passenger side so he would have to switch with me and take over the wheel.

But then I borrowed a friend's automatic for my driver's test (in Ucluelet, B.C., a teeny town on the West Coast) and I was just fucking amazed at how easy it was! I had to parallel park on a hill, which is pretty much the hardest thing to do in a standard. But on an automatic everything seemed easy. Turning the last corner on the way back to ICBC (British Columbia's DMV equivalent, for you American readers), I got my only 5 demerits, for apparently not shoulder-checking before the turn, which I still believe was bullshit because I am OCD about shoulder-checking due to a huge fear of hitting a cyclist, and that the tester just didn't want me to have a perfect score. I should have told him that the only reason I was able to get a perfect score was the fact I learned on a stick-shift and was accustomed to so many more challenges.

Anyway, what I'm trying to get at here is my new serger. Sewing with it is like making the switch from standard to automatic.  It takes like four fewer steps to do everything. It's so easy (if you study the manual sufficiently) and saves so much time. If you can afford it (mine was only $219 US on Amazon.com), get one. I have much yet to learn, but so far I have:

Finished seams on this peach silk blouse that is still a work-in-progress:

 

Used it to gather ruffles and do shirring:

AND...drumroll please...sewed a rolled hem, which I think looks very nice on this silk (see the edge of this ruffle and the sleeves):

I'm not one for naming appliances. But if I were, I'd call it Sergio. But only so I can post this video from Jon Hamm's appearence on SNL:

Make it: Chiffon Flower Corsage!

It's yet another snow day here in NYC, with schools, bus and subway service suspended. Libraries are all closed. Many museums are too. The streets and sidewalks are a mess. So what to do with a toddler who hates playing in the snow? I wish she were movie-marathon age, or read-Harry-Potter-while-mommy-sews age. But instead she's needs-to-be-entertained-at-every-second-of-the-day age. I love winter in New York because it's not sweltering hot and I don't have allergies. But when the snow is this frequent and heavy, we're going really stir-crazy. 

If you're stuck inside today like we are, maybe you should make something. Like this springy chiffon flower brooch in a peachy orange, which if the Golden Globes were any indication, is going to be a hot colour this spring.

I started making these flowers because I thought they'd look pretty grouped on the sashes of the flower girl dresses I'm making for a wedding in the fall. The colours are green and orange, which clearly look beautiful together when done in the right shades (see left)

It will take you only about 20 minutes to make one of these.

Make it: Ruffles!

 You know how on amazing design blogs people post these incredibly well-lit pictures of little corners in their home where everything looks fresh out of an Anthopologie window display and you think to yourself: "Dude, my apartment looks like crap. Why am I reading this when I could be cleaning?" But then you click anyway....that's called procrastination.

My home doesn't look like that. It looks like this (see left). Piles of toys and in the far left corner the foot of a child who is screaming at me, "Mama, I need a tissue!!" Thus, my is-it-over-yet face.

Anyway, this isn't about how messy my apartment is, though as I type it is getting messier by the moment. It's about ruffles!

Make it: Pompoms!

 I'm working on a pattern for a darling little girl's cape. It will be for dress-up or to top a special outfit for a festive occasion ... or everyday wear for the type of girl who likes fancy-looking clothes. Now on its own,  a toddler-sized cape is pretty precious. But adorned with pompoms like the pinks ones pictured above: cute overload.

Making these fluffy balls this week, I thought I'd share how easy it is to use up yarn remnants by making pompoms. You could use them to top a toque (that's a knit hat to you, my American friends), sew them in a row down a polkadot onesie to make a last-minute clown costume, hotglue to a styroform wreath form for a cool Christmas decoration...I could go on.

The materials needed are few: some yarn, a piece of cardboard, a pair of scissors, something circular to trace and a pen.

Felt Toadstool Ornaments

Slitting open the plastic wrap on a box of new matching Christmas balls or snowflakes or whatever just seems wrong to me. I don't know what it is. I like my ornaments either handmade, vintage or as gifts. I like being surprised by what I see on someone's Christmas tree.  Uniformity (of colour/of ornaments/etc) can be lovely of course....but in a department store tree, not in a family tree.

 If I were to go for uniformity (which would mean not hanging up so many sentimental ornaments, a thing my husband would never allow, the big softie), I would go with a woodland theme: acorn garland, pinecones dusted with fake snow or glitter, clusters of holly, little fabric birds nestled on the branches, and toadstools — like the little red and white felt one pictured above. I was inspired by the toadstool rattles and terrariums my friend Holly makes (and will be selling at City of Craft in Toronto next weekend).  It was so easy, I barely had to neglect my child to make this one in about 15 minutes. Of course, you can see that my stitches aren't even, but I wasn't aiming for that sort of aesthetic. (Call it a design decision, and you don't have to apologize for your mistakes.)

Materials:

-scrap of red felt

-scrap of white or off-white felt

-handful of poly batting

-needle and thread (I used brown because I wanted my stitches to show, but white or red would look good too)

-6-inch piece of string for hanging the ornament

Cut out the following:

-3-inch diameter circle of red felt

-2 1/2-inch diameter circle of white or off-white felt

-Approx. 2-inch square (for stem) you can see in the picture mine's a bit bigger.

-3/4-inch diameter circle of white or off-white felt

-a few small circles of white or off-white felt for the spots on the top

You don't have to follow the instructions in this exact order. But this is what I did. First, I pinned the white circle to the red circle (the red circle is bigger, so it will gather as you sew. This will give you a nice, round top when you stuff it. Pin one side together, and then the other. Then pin between those two, so the excess on the bigger red piece is distributed evenly). Then stitch together. Don't worry about being perfect. Stop stitching when you have just a 1 1/2-inch opening left, like this:

 Then stuff it with your batting, like so: (aw, doesn't it look like a shy little turtle shell?)

Ahem: finish stitching all the way around.

Next, grab your square of white felt, and make a tube, overlapping a little. Stitch together along that seam, like this:

 When the tube to stitched shut, grab the little 3/4-inch circle you cut out earlier, and stitch it to one end of the tube, closing it off. Then stuff with a little bit of batting.

Take the stem and the top and stitch together like this:

I think it would be easier to stitch your spots on first, but I did it this way so they would follow the curve of the toadstool top. It may not really matter. Either way, stitch your spots on, like so: (I put on three, but you could do more)

I used a short piece of hemp to make the string for the ornament, but you could use embroidery floss, string, or whatever you have. I tied a knot in one end and then sewed it onto the toadstool top using a couple loops with my needle and thread. Done!

Crafty Corsages for Christmas

Last year my husband and I spent more on our holiday tip for the building's super than we did on each other (we had a $25 limit). And the only other person we purchased a gift for was our daughter, who was around 18 months at the time and in need of new toys (I hear people -- mostly moms -- say this all the time: "We just have sooooo much stuff!" like it's such a huuuuuge problem. Too much stuff. I wish we had that problem.) Anyway, instead of presents we shot a Christmas music video with the three of us and sent it out to family. I'm sure there were some who just thought we were self-centered and cheap. But really, the reality was we could not afford to buy Christmas gifts. And we were not going to accumulate more debt to do so. There was no moral high ground there. Just the shameful reality that people are going to buy you presents, and you are not going to be able to return the kindness. Even making stuff would have cost too much for us at the time. Purchasing materials was just beyond our mid-recession budget. 

This year, things are better. But we are still committed to living within our means, even during the holidays. But at least we can afford handmade this year. Like the above felt flower corsage, which I made a bunch of for grandma gifts (Lucy has three official grandmas, plus one honorary grandma, and all of them are so good to her). I didn't make it up myself. I followed this tutorial at Holidash.com. My friend Lizzi hates it when I say something like this is easy, but it really was. (Just get your 10-year-old to make you one). I think it would look cute on a wool coat, or a hat or even a tote bag.

Etsy Shop Open!

Look. Over there. On the right in that white rectangle. Under the headline "My Etsy Store."

That's right: My newly opened Etsy shop (where you can buy doll carriers for your lovely children this holiday season) has been longer in the making than the 2nd Avenue subway line. Well not quite. I started my Etsy account three years ago, not really knowing what I should sell there, just that people kept telling me I should. It seemed like a natural fit. I like to make stuff. Sometimes people like that stuff and they ask why I don't make a bunch of whatever it is and sell them somewhere. But I just couldn't figure out what my niche should be. I'm still not really sure. But I'm hopeful I got it right. I designed the carrier and drafted my pattern (hooray for my FIT education!) this fall originally as a birthday present for Lucy's best bud. It turned out so well, I made one more for Lucy. I adapted the pattern a bit to make sewing en masse easier and forged on. Now I have a whole bunch. (Again, see that box over there on the right?)

Anyway, I don't need to post any more photos of these carriers, do I? I've done that to death already. But they are cute. And so fun for doll-loving preschoolers to play with. I really am proud of how they have turned out.

In short:shop www.Etsy.com.

And the Winner is...

Big Bird!

No, just kidding. But Big Bird was the most popular answer to my question, probably due to the fact so many of those who answered have toddlers at home. I personally would like Elmo to carry me around for a day — so I could watch that tiny red monster suffer like I have through countless rounds of "La, la, la, la, lah, la, la, la...Elmo's World!"

Anyway, the real winner is Lisa (last name rhymes with "winner") from Winnipeg! I'll be sending her the doll carrier tomorrow. Her son just started walking a while back so he may not be quite ready for the doll carrier just yet, but I'm sure it will get put to good use eventually.

The winner was chosen at random using this random number generator. (It paid to make that 2nd entry on Facebook/Twitter):

 

A special shout-out should go to Briony for sending me this picture: 

 

It's Mark Ruffalo in GQ magazine, which is apparently for straight guys — because straight guys love looking at photos of Mark Ruffalo making his "come hither to my hirsute den of baby-making" pose. Huh?

Enter, enter, enter, enter!

Only 5 hours left to enter my giveaway for the handmade doll carrier pictured above! If you haven't entered already because you don't have a kid of your own or one the right age, just remember Christmas is coming and you may have a niece, nephew or friend's kid in need of a charming, handmade gift. You'll save money. I promise I'll ship quickly and you'll have it well before the holidays.

If you haven't entered because we're good friends and you're worried it won't be fair if you win, get over it: Fair's fair and I have no qualms about giving this to anyone who enters — even my own mother (not really: she doesn't have the Internet, or a computer, or any idea what a blog is).

If you haven't entered because you can't think of an answer to my skill-testing question, just make one up. Or use one of my helpful suggestions: Jolly Green Giant, Vince Vaughn, Yao Ming, or the Pillsbury Dough Boy.

Proceed: http://mybeaubaby.blogspot.com/2010/11/doll-carrier-giveaway.html